Abbey D’Agostino didn’t have the time of her life at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Oregon last month, and she couldn’t be happier about it.
The 2014 Dartmouth College graduate strained over the final laps of the women’s 5,000-meter run at Hayward Field, trying without success for a high-enough placement to automatically make the American team for this month’s Rio de Janeiro games. Claiming fifth place for the second straight time at trials, D’Agostino would have happily returned home to Boston knowing she’d given her all.
If that was the cake, the icing showed up in the next couple of hours when D’Agostino received her first Olympic invite, as two runners ahead of her in Oregon indicated they wouldn’t run the 5K at Rio.
The most-decorated runner in Ivy League history is going to Brazil.
“I’m really excited; I don’t think it’s quite set in, the reality of it, yet,” D’Agostino said in a recent phone interview. “It will become more real when I fly down there. It’s been a privilege, and I’m so thankful.
“This spring season played out quite differently than I expected. I thought it would come together at the right time. I knew that whatever the result, I was going to be content. … I’m very thankful that it did work out.”
As a professional runner for Boston-based New Balance, D’Agostino has been working toward matching the promise that grew from her Dartmouth career. The Topsfield, Mass., native became the first Dartmouth woman to win an NCAA running title in 2012, and she went on to claim a total of seven national crowns with the Big Green (one cross country, four indoor track, two outdoor) before graduating.
The progress has continued in the same vein as it sometimes does for all runners: moving forward with the occasional injury setback. The 2016 campaign didn’t go as D’Agostino first hoped because she had to attend to stress fractures in her legs along the way.
“I had a couple of stress fractures in the fall, when I got back from worlds, and one in late spring,” D’Agostino said. “My training hadn’t been drastically different. I’ve been working with my coach from college (Mark Coogan), and I was pretty injury-free over four years at Dartmouth, but for some reason, I haven’t been able to tolerate it as much.
“I’m learning what I can do and how to diversify to get the volume in and be more consistent in my training. It was clearly impossible to keep it up without cross-training.”
Turning pro has also increased the time spent working on the mental side of competition, as well as adjusting to a different workout schedule that wasn’t focused on racing.
“We raced and raced hard (at Dartmouth), and I got a lot out of that; I was doing what was necessary in that system,” D’Agostino said. “It’s quite different now. You’re hoping to work with different groups and in different conditions, and the level is different. I’m able to get a lot more out of my workouts. … In future years, I’ll apply the lessons that I’ve learned. I don’t need to race every two weeks or once a month, even, to compete well at the championship competitions.”
D’Agostino flashed her potential at March’s IAAF World Indoor Championships, running to fifth place in the 3,000 meters in Portland, Ore. Still, the attempt to make the Rio roster took a lot of effort on D’Agostino’s part, and it showed on her face.
The 24-year-old easily made the 16-woman final with a sixth-place finish in her heat, running to a time of 15 minutes, 29.66 seconds. She also joined a breakaway group of six in the final, with American record-holder Molly Huddle eventually pulling away to win.
D’Agostino visibly exerted over the last few laps. As Huddle churned away in automaton fashion, D’Agostino bore a grimace on her face as if chasing was taking everything out of her system. Recalling the race led D’Agostino to laugh.
“I was definitely struggling,” she admitted. “In the last four laps — the last two, especially — you’re at maximum output. I think part of my journey of maturing as an athlete and a person is learning how to reach that place. It’s not something I learned in high school or my first couple of years in college. I was learning what I was physically capable of.
“I was really challenging my body and working hard through pain. It was 100 percent mental and a decision.”
D’Agostino accepted her fifth-place trials finish, in 15:14.04, with equanimity, knowing she’d put everything into the race. The reward came within two hours, when both Huddle and fourth-place runner Emily Infeld confirmed they’d give up their Olympic spots in the 5K to concentrate on the 10K in Rio. Their decisions provided the final piece in D’Agostino’s Olympic puzzle.
“The experience was so different than I ever would have envisioned,” D’Agostino said. “I didn’t get the epic finish, do the victory lap, do the interviews. It wasn’t that at all. I came home and people didn’t realize what happened. It was a funny and different experience, but it was so much better.
“The whole theme of the season was waiting. It’s such a gift. I didn’t get the glory, didn’t get that moment, but it’s OK. It’s better than way.”
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.